Chapter 87: An Even More Special Victory (2)

After the match, Manchester City’s manager, Peter Guardian, went to the press conference to be interviewed by the reporters.

The reporters raised their hands and asked questions in turn.

“You are undefeated through 31 rounds. There’s even talk that the championship is practically secured after this match against Manchester United. What are your thoughts on that?”

In fact, this match against Manchester United was considered not just a six-point contest, but a championship decider.

There was no disagreement among anyone that the winner, Manchester City, would become this season’s Premier League champion.

What the reporters were curious about was whether the undefeated streak, which had continued for 31 rounds, could last until the end of the league.

“First of all, I am very happy about today’s victory. However, if I and the players were to get drunk on the idea of being champions already, we would surely lose. Therefore, rather than thinking about securing the championship, we are trying to focus on each of the remaining matches.”

“Is there a biggest reason why a team that was in the mid-table last season has become a team that can aim for an undefeated championship in just one season?”

Everyone knew.

All the players had done well, but they knew who deserved the most credit for being able to aim for an undefeated championship.

“Hahaha, I know what answer you reporters want to hear. Thanks to Tae-woo, we have conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League so far, and it’s true that he has played a big part in us aiming for an undefeated championship. But there is no player who deserves the most credit. This result was possible because everyone worked hard.”

“Then there’s something I’m most curious about. There’s talk that Tae-woo’s saves are just unbelievable. In your opinion, how great is Tae-woo’s talent?”

Peter Guardian paused for a moment and recalled Tae-woo in the training ground.

A player whose position is a goalkeeper but sometimes comes out, dribbles past defenders, and scores goals.

A player who has never lost a one-on-one duel with an attacker so far.

A player who comes back after watching videos of other sports, immediately applies it to football, and succeeds.

As he recalled his appearance on the training ground, a smile naturally spread across his lips.

“There probably won’t be another player of Tae-woo’s type from now on. He has the talent to sit at the top in any position, whether it’s attacker, midfielder, or defender… that’s how I’ve assessed his talent.”

In his eyes, if there was a god of football, Tae-woo would be a child immensely loved by him.

He had too much talent for one person to bear.

And Peter Guardian’s thought was the correct answer.

***

On the way home after the game, I was watching St-hyung’s live broadcast.

[Man Utd’s Champion Cut has donated 1000 won]

[Call Jeong Tae-woo and ask him if he was only satisfied after blocking everything, and I’ll immediately send 1 million won]

“Ah, that’s too much… But I do have Tae-woo’s contact info…”

-No way?

-He’s actually considering it?

-It’ll be legendary if he really calls.

“Ahem… It’s true that I’m really close with Tae-woo, but…”

‘Is he going to call?’

If he called, I could pick up and create a fun scene, but I thought the St-hyung I knew would think it’s a nuisance and wouldn’t call.

And seeing St-hyung’s reaction, I was right.

His conflicted expression was evident on the broadcast screen.

As expected, he was seen picking up and putting down his phone repeatedly.

“Then I’ll have to be the one to call.”

“Huh? Where?”

Chankyu-hyung, who was holding the steering wheel, asked with a puzzled look.

“St-hyung is live on air and he was talking about me. Someone said they’d donate a million won if he called me. But knowing St-hyung’s personality, I don’t think he’ll call, so I’m just going to do it.”

“You got scolded by the CEO for doing that last time.”

Concern was evident in Chankyu-hyung’s voice.

But I replied with a mischievous smile.

“Hyung, if you ask an adult to buy you a game console, they’ll never buy it. But if you buy the game console and then say you’re sorry, they’ll forgive you.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It’s better to apologize than to ask for permission.”

I grinned and dialed St-hyung’s number.

‘If I’m going to get scolded anyway, isn’t it better to get scolded in a fun way?’

As the phone rang, the broadcast chat window began to explode.

-????

-Holy sh*t, pick it up, what are you doing?

-He must have been watching the broadcast.

-Awesome.

“Hello, our dong-“

“MAN UTD CUT!!!”

“…”

“Tae-woo…”

“Hahaha, hyung, I’m just kidding. I was on my way home watching your broadcast and saw you debating whether to call me, so I called you.”

“Ahem… Then listen carefully to what I have to say.”

Calling was a nuisance, but now that the call had come, his refusal to miss the mission was truly that of a professional broadcaster.

St-hyung leaned his face into the camera.

“Did you… have to block everything to be satisfied~~”

Both I and Chankyu-hyung, who was listening while driving, burst out laughing at his imitation of a famous meme that everyone knows even if they haven’t seen the movie.

“Puhaha, hyung, you’re really good at imitating.”

“Ahem… Man Utd’s Champion Cut, hurry up and give me the money.”

“But wait, St-hyung.”

“What?”

“The mission was for you to call, but since I’m the one who called, isn’t it a failure?”

[Man Utd’s Champion Cut has donated 1000 won]

[That’s right, you didn’t call, Jeong Tae-woo did, so it’s a failure!!]

“NO!!!!”

St-hyung’s scream came through the phone.

A laughter bomb exploded in the chat window.

-Lost a million won.

-Tae-woo’s got great sense.

-This is the level of a pro’s defense.

-No, so you should have just called without hesitating.

“Ah, really… Tae-woo, if only you had kept quiet.”

“Hyung, I couldn’t help it because you’re a Man Utd fan. I’m a Man City player.”

“Hah… my one million won…”

At St-hyung’s sigh-filled voice, Chankyu-hyung and I burst into even louder laughter.

“Sigh, right. Congratulations on the win… If you’re going to win after beating Man Utd, make sure you win without losing a single game, Tae-woo.”

“Of course. Who’s going to score a goal when I’m standing in front of the goal?”

“The more I see you, the more annoying you are.”

“Huh~ can you handle it, hyung? I didn’t know either, but my fan club has a lot of people. Everyone, I’m hurt.”

The fan club, which started because of my looks in high school, had now grown to nearly 730,000 members.

“Spare me, Tae-woo.”

“We’ll see~”

“Hey!!!”

“Haha, alright. I’ve arrived home now, hyung. Keep up the good work on your broadcast.”

“Yeah, Tae-woo, thanks for calling.”

And so, our call ended.

And the next day, this news spread throughout South Korea through reporters’ articles.

[Jeong Tae-woo appears on Gamst’s broadcast once again]

[Jeong Tae-woo’s lion’s roar “MAN UTD CUT!!!”]

[Fans’ hearts explode at Jeong Tae-woo’s mention of his fan club]

“I told you to tell me when you do things like this.”

“Hahaha.”

“Don’t laugh!”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Hah~ you really weren’t like this when I first saw you. Why have you become such a troublemaker, Tae-woo?”

I let out an awkward laugh.

“Because I believe in you, Gayoung-nuna~”

“Hey!”

“…”

After that, I was nagged by Gayoung-nuna for 30 minutes.

‘Who on earth said it’s better to apologize than to ask for permission!!’

***

Manchester City’s undefeated league run continued.

Round 33: Manchester City 2 – 0 Everton

Round 34: Manchester City 1 – 0 Wolverhampton

Round 35: Manchester City 5 – 0 Brentford

We had already secured the championship after the 35th round.

Now, we were doing our best to set a new record of an ‘undefeated championship’.

The 5-0 victory against Brentford, in particular, was another opportunity to show our overwhelming performance.

And the next match in the 36th round was against Chelsea, where Seojun-hyung is the captain.

[Round 36: Manchester City vs. Chelsea, another Korean derby]

[Can Manchester City achieve an undefeated championship by remaining undefeated in the remaining 3 matches?]

Just when I thought everything was going well, my body gave me a warning sign.

In fact, by only playing league matches, we were in a better condition than other teams, but since the injury during the turf war with the other goalkeeper at the beginning of the season, there was no proper substitute goalkeeper.

So I had to play every game alone, and now my body was protesting.

I couldn’t blame the manager for this.

My recovery rate was so good that tests showed my body would fully recover after about 2 days of rest.

Even during the first half of the transfer season, when the manager asked, “Are you okay on your own?”, I replied, “I’m more than enough,” and even showed him the test results, so he agreed.

So, in a word, this was what I wanted.

“Cough, cough, cough.”

The manager, who saw my condition during training, came running.

“Tae-woo, what’s wrong?”

“I think I have a cold.”

“What? How on earth… Doctor! Doctor! Come quickly and check Tae-woo’s condition!”

Hearing my words, the manager called the team doctor with a look on his face as if the world was ending.

Hearing that I was sick, the players also came over with worried expressions.

“Tae-woo, are you okay?”

“It’s unbelievable that Tae-woo is sick.”

He began to check my physical condition.

“You have a fever. It would be best to go to the hospital and get a check-up.”

“I think it’s just a cold, I’ll be fine after a nap…”

At my words, the manager grabbed my shoulder with a very serious expression and said.

“Tae-woo, it’s better to go to the hospital. You’re not thinking of disobeying the manager’s words, are you?”

“…I understand.”

In the end, I nodded.

I thought I could recover with this level of condition, but I couldn’t ignore the manager’s worried gaze at such an important time with the undefeated championship on the line.

“Good, you thought well. Doctor, please take Tae-woo and give him a thorough check-up.”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

The team doctor tried to support me, but I gestured that I could walk on my own.

“How many days until the Chelsea match?”

“Two days…”

“That’s enough. I’ll definitely play.”

But the manager’s expression was still serious.

“We’ll have to see the test results first, but if it’s a cold, it’s important to get plenty of rest. Rest for the next match, Tae-woo.”

‘There’s no other goalkeeper who can play if I’m not there.’

“But-“

“Tsk, Tae-woo. If we were a team that would collapse without you, we wouldn’t even be challenging for an undefeated championship. Don’t worry and get some rest.”

“Yes…”

I couldn’t help it. The manager, the team’s ultimate decision-maker, said so, so I had no other choice.

And so, the match between Manchester City and Chelsea was to be played without me.